Isle Of Man Bans Mephedrone

Where is this issue of legal highs going to end? The Health Minister for the Isle of Man, Mr Teare, is taking the matter very seriously and seems to be doing everything he can to quash the ever-rising surge of herbal and legal highs becoming available. This is with particular focus on the drug mephedrone, which he says has caused alarming damage to a lot of young people on the island. By law, a substance can’t be banned on the Isle of Man until it has first been banned in the UK, but Mr Teare is doing everything in his power to find a way round this.

Mr Teare’s efforts are commendable – letters are now going out to all parents of secondary school children, warning them of the dangers of mephedrone and its prolific availability. However, you do have to wonder if the problem of legal drug use will ever be remedied simply by banning every new product that comes to the shelves. The fact is, that as soon as one substance is prohibited, another crops up in its place. It’s an un-winnable race, as
Home Affairs Minister, Adrian Earnshaw, also points out.

Legal highs are available in high street shops, often known as “headshops”, and on hundreds of online stores. There are so many brands and names that they are very difficult to keep up with. Whoever’s manufacturing them ensures that they are ahead of the legal game, finding new chemicals and changing old ones to replace any that become controlled. They have the same selling restrictions as alcohol – they won’t be sold to anyone under the age of 18, but of course these things always get into the wrong hands somehow. So is prohibition the answer?

Head Shops also sell other items that have a multi tude of purposes such  as herb grinders, rolling papers & scales

We know that prohibition doesn’t work for alcohol and cannabis. During the 20s in the USA, underground bars made fortunes and people with alcohol problems had to hide their addictions for fear of prosecution. The same thing happens with cannabis in the UK. The black market makes millions and those who develop problems – psychological or physical – are reluctant to seek help. Banning legal highs doesn’t come with quite the same issues – rather than continuing sales of out-lawed substances under the counter, new products are concocted in their place, so at least buyers are not contributing to criminal rings. However,  we can see from experience that the intake of drugs does not fall if people are told not to do it.

It seems that Mr Teare is very genuine in his concern for the welfare of young people on the Isle of Man. Having seen the disturbing condition of youths in their hospital after taking mephedrone, he is making it his mission to educate parents and children about the dangers they may face. Informing is a good approach – everyone needs to be told the facts, but blanket bans should not be used. If someone has the facts, they should then be able to make their own choice. It is simply not possible to safeguard every human being from accidents and bad decisions. Sadly, there will always be casualties in every walk of life. The best we can do is be open and prepare people to make better choices.

Legal highs seem to be here to stay – they keep churning them out and the government is powerless to keep up with new inventions. So perhaps we need to develop something into the National Curriculum to teach our children and make them more aware? The world for children growing up in 21st century is vastly different from what we knew as kids. It’s faster, fuller and more and more geared towards the hedonistic. Let’s give the new generations a better start and provide the facts as well as allowing them responsibility of their own decisions